What Book Are You Reading at the moment?

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: loki100

ORIGINAL: Zorch

Alistair Horne is one of my favorite authors. His book on Verdun, The Price of Glory is classic.
Some of his works are dated, though.

agree, the trilogy of 1871/1916 and 1940 is such a compelling read as he uses it to explore the birth, evolution and death of the Third Republic as well as the military side. And he is so good at capturing a lot of detail into such clear easy to follow prose.

warspite1

I am tempted by these - with the WWII episode being first and foremost. Sadly I am not massively impressed with James Holland's War in the West.

I am looking for a really detailed study of the campaign complete with detailed OOB. It would be really nice to get a detailed look at the Armee del'air too - numbers, losses, trained pilots etc.

[Kuokkanen]

I read manga:
The Ancient Magus' Bride (Finnish translation)
Vinland Saga
How to Build a Dungeon: Book of the Demon King

Waiting for next volume of Another (Finnish translation that is). Also waiting for more chapters of Otome Sensou Divci Valka by Ohnishi Kouichi. It is realistic portrayal of Hussite Wars. That war where infantry firearms entered to widespread service. Official translations are in French, but English translations are available somewhere on the Internet. Look it up; I promise it'll be well worth the trouble.

[chemkid]

.

[Ironclad]

ORIGINAL: Rush

I`m still reading the 3 Vol`s of 1809 Thunder on the Danube by John H Gill.

Before PC`s I used to read a lot, but now with gaming etc I find it hard to find the time...Pity!!

Likewise. Although for me its probably using the computer generally not just the gaming time. In fairness I think my reading had already reduced significantly before the computer made an impact - the aging effect I guess. In early life I used to devour books at a rapid pace, now it takes me all my time to concentrate on finishing each one, no matter how interested I am in the subject matter.

Gill's trilogy is very impressive, and plenty of good maps - although I needed the magnifier to follow the detail on some of them.

Currently am just finishing The Coming Of the Third Reich by Richard Evans, the first of his trilogy and have just got today the second book The Third Reich in Power. Btw if anyone hasn't used it, I strongly recommend the on line seller Wordery for its very competitive rates.

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: loki100

ORIGINAL: Zorch

Alistair Horne is one of my favorite authors. His book on Verdun, The Price of Glory is classic.
Some of his works are dated, though.

agree, the trilogy of 1871/1916 and 1940 is such a compelling read as he uses it to explore the birth, evolution and death of the Third Republic as well as the military side. And he is so good at capturing a lot of detail into such clear easy to follow prose.

warspite1

I am tempted by these - with the WWII episode being first and foremost. Sadly I am not massively impressed with James Holland's War in the West.

I am looking for a really detailed study of the campaign complete with detailed OOB. It would be really nice to get a detailed look at the Armee del'air too - numbers, losses, trained pilots etc.

Oddly for a book that is 660+ pages long, the level of detail is variable. He deals with the set up pretty briskly, then the events from 10-23 May get about 50% of the book and there is a lot about the movement of specific units and so on (both sides). The final battles up to mid-June we again canter through at some pace.

Also he does discuss the political side among the military detail. But you come out with a good appreciation for the main dynamics of the campaign. He does have an agenda that the Third Republic was a house of cards by 1939 having lost the loyalty of about 40% of its population (ie the fascists and communists) while mired in political deadlock, but he carries that fairly lightly.

edit: its light on OOB, you get the big picture stuff but not really below divisional-army set ups.

edit 2: 'Peacemakers' is on order - thanks for the reccomendation.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: loki100

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: loki100




agree, the trilogy of 1871/1916 and 1940 is such a compelling read as he uses it to explore the birth, evolution and death of the Third Republic as well as the military side. And he is so good at capturing a lot of detail into such clear easy to follow prose.

warspite1

I am tempted by these - with the WWII episode being first and foremost. Sadly I am not massively impressed with James Holland's War in the West.

I am looking for a really detailed study of the campaign complete with detailed OOB. It would be really nice to get a detailed look at the Armee del'air too - numbers, losses, trained pilots etc.

Oddly for a book that is 660+ pages long, the level of detail is variable. He deals with the set up pretty briskly, then the events from 10-23 May get about 50% of the book and there is a lot about the movement of specific units and so on (both sides). The final battles up to mid-June we again canter through at some pace.

Also he does discuss the political side among the military detail. But you come out with a good appreciation for the main dynamics of the campaign. He does have an agenda that the Third Republic was a house of cards by 1939 having lost the loyalty of about 40% of its population (ie the fascists and communists) while mired in political deadlock, but he carries that fairly lightly.

edit: its light on OOB, you get the big picture stuff but not really below divisional-army set ups.

edit 2: 'Peacemakers' is on order - thanks for the reccomendation.

warspite1

Okay thanks. I get the feeling there simply may not be a properly detailed book about the campaign that seeks to support or debunk the 'accepted' version of events. All authors (that I have read) touching on the subject seem largely wedded to one or more of three 'accepted facts' (with perhaps some slight variations on a theme):

- The Germans won because of a new wonder tactic called Blitzkrieg
- The British sold the French down the river and it was all their fault
- The French were rubbish and it was all their fault.

Oh well, I'll keep looking.

[warspite1]

I bought Blitzkrieg by Lloyd Clark. I am halfway through War in the West but started reading the former out of curiosity as it has good reviews from the likes of Andrew Roberts and Robert Kershaw. I am hooked and will probably finish Blitzkrieg first.

The author raises some interesting points about the French Army in the inter-war years that at least helps to explain why the French didn't attack to help the Poles after declaring war. This has grabbed the attention - and may be the book I thought I was getting when buying Holland's book.

[berto]

The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern, May 7--12, 1864 by Gordon C. Rhea.

[nelmsm1]

ORIGINAL: berto


The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern, May 7--12, 1864 by Gordon C. Rhea.

You're a book ahead of me.....

[durangokid]

SAS: Rogue Heroes - the Authorized Wartime History

This book is about the formation of the SAS and it's activities up to the end of WWII. It's an easy entertaining read that isn't just about heroics.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/285 ... earch=true

[berto]

ORIGINAL: nelmsm

ORIGINAL: berto

The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern, May 7--12, 1864 by Gordon C. Rhea.

You're a book ahead of me.....

I finished the first volume in the series -- The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5-6, 1864 -- a couple of weeks ago.

[wings7]

ORIGINAL: durangokid

SAS: Rogue Heroes - the Authorized Wartime History

This book is about the formation of the SAS and it's activities up to the end of WWII. It's an easy entertaining read that isn't just about heroics.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/285 ... earch=true

Sounds great! Thanks for the link! [:)]

[loki100]

The House of the Dead. Book about Tsarist policy in respect of using Siberia as a penal colony. Interesting to track the change of approach across the 19C and how the treatment of rich/aristocratic exiles differed from that for the poor.

Interesting analogy to British use of Australia for the same purpose. If the point was punishment/exile, the long term goal was to force the settlement of what was seen as empty lands ripe for colonisation. So many had their sentences reduced but were then forbidden to leave Siberia.

Oh and reading the Peacemakers (as above). Jaunty, rather waspish, romp through the dynamics of peacemaking in early 1919.

[nicwb]

"All I see is mud"

A personal account of an Australian soldier on the Western Front in late WW1.

Interesting but a bit short on detail as it comes from a reconstructed diary and letters.

[SuluSea]

Gods War on Terror by Walid Shoebat

[panzer cat]

The Fall of the Ottomans by Eugene Rogan.

[Zorch]

ORIGINAL: panzer cat

The Fall of the Ottomans by Eugene Rogan.

That's my book - see post 2177.

[reg113]

Just finished "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"

[durangokid]

The Secret War: Spies, Codes and Guerrillas 1939-1945
by Max Hastings

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/252 ... secret-war

[Greybriar]

The Iron King by Maurice Druon. It is the first book in The Accursed Kings series.